Calendar of the Moon
17 Saille/Mounukhion
Arktoi: Day of the Bear
Colors: Black and dark brown
Element: Earth
Altar: Upon cloth and furs of black and dark brown set the figure of a bear, and tree branches.
Offering: Protect someone or something with fierceness and strength. If possible, there should
be present on this day one or more young girls between the ages of eight and twelve, dressed in
saffron tunics and playing at being bears.
Daily Meal: Fish. Rabbit. Berries. Wild greens.
Invocation to the Bear Spirit
The hour after the sun sets
Is the Hour of the Bear
When the spirits and the ghosts
Walk about and seek us out.
At this time, we call upon
The spirit of the Bear
To protect us as she would
Her own cubs, whom she loves
With a love so fierce
That nothing can come close to them
That might do them harm.
We ask your protection, Mother Bear,
For we who are all your cubs,
And when the time comes
That we must protect our own,
Let us find your fierceness within us.
Let us not swerve from our love
And our convictions.
Bless us, Mother Bear,
And drive all evil from our door.
Chant: Arktoi Arktoi Arktoi
(All should growl and snarl, honoring the spirit of the Bear, and then touch the earth whilst
closing their eyes, remembering that the Bear sleeps beneath the earth every winter.)
[Pagan Book of Hours]